On April 19, 2017, The National Society of Black Physicists’ President Dr. K. Renee Horton served as the keynote speaker for the STEMpowerment Conference, in celebration of Science Week at the University of the Virgin Islands (SWUVI). During this visit, Renee spent the day preceding the conference visiting and talking with the administration, faculty and students of this newly implemented physics program for this University. Renee served as the keynote speaker and a panelist for the STEMpowerment Conference in which she detailed her path to success in the STEM field. Following her presentation, there was a STEMpowerment Career Panel discussion on issues such as; academic paths, career paths, extracurricular activities outside of academics, strengths and weaknesses, goals, challenges in specific careers, sexism, biases, doubts, life mottos, mentorship, and useful advice. As part of the SWUVI, there were visits to the Etelman Observatory, observations and sessions with the Peer Lead Teaching Lecture (PLTL) students about their teaching and learning experiences in this newly implemented environment. Outside of the physics department was a session with the students of NSBE, individual sessions with STEM majoring students and dinner at the Science Café hosted by the Marine Biology department at a local restaurant. On Dr. Horton’s day of departure, she spent the morning at the Addelita Cancryn Junior High School observing the STEM Science fair exhibits, interacting with the science classes and videoing a greeting to the incoming students about the importance of physics in the world and their place in physics.

On this upcoming Earth Day, April 22, Earth Day Network will unite with the March for Science on the National Mall in Washington DC to take a stand against policies that ignore scientific consensus and ultimately put human lives at risk. We will be hosting a national teach-in, rally and march to advocate for scientific education, funding for research and publication, and to let the world know that scientific evidence across all disciplines positively impacts our society. Climate justice and scientific engagement are intrinsically tied to every affinity of the social justice community. They encompass gender justice, economic justice, racial justice, immigration justice, and so much more. Inaction threatens severe consequences to the health and wellbeing of us all. We welcome you to join us at the March for Science on April 22nd, 2017 to take a public stand for the scientific issues most important to you. Your involvement in the march is important because science impacts all parts of our lives. Clean air, food security, water access, and medical innovations and more all depend on a strong scientific community will only improve if we lift restrictions on the scientific community and improve STEM education for future generations.

In the past, the function of the Awards and Fellowship Committee (AFC) was to review and recommend candidates for the various awards and prizes in the field of physics. The AFC was/is also be responsible for evaluating and making recommendations to the NSBP Board of Directors to elevate NSBP members to the status of Fellow of the National Society of Black Physicists. We would like to mark the 40th anniversary as a year of renewal for the organization. Our strategy is to re-commission the AFC and work to re-brand the NSBP as a serious organization of highly distinguished scientists who are active participants in today’s scientific discourse. We believe that an important step to successfully rebranding NSBP is to increase the visibility of our members, many of whom have distinguished themselves in their careers.

The National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP) sponsors the Carl Albert Rouse Undergraduate Research Fellowship for research with LIGO Laboratory. This fellowship was established by the Rouse family in honor of the Late Dr. Carl Albert Rouse. It is awarded each year to up to 2 undergraduate students who have demonstrated both a commitment to pursuing science as an academic major and a strong interest in astrophysics. Students are selected by a committee consisting of NSBP and Caltech astrophysicists and astronomers. The fellowship committee seeks qualified African American applicants. Fellows are supported through NSBP and the generous contribution of The California Institute of Technology.

About Carl Albert Rouse

After earning a Ph.D. in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1956, Dr. Carl Albert Rouse became the first African American to successfully enter into a career as a professional astrophysics researcher. Dr. Rouse's thesis research was in the field of particle physics. After graduate school he took a position as a scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory where he studied screened Coulomb interactions utilizing quantum mechanics theory. Read an article of the American Astronomical Society published in the 2006 Spectrum Newsletter (H. Oluseyi, "Contributions from the first half-century of African-American solar astronomers", pp 1-3 and 14-16) of the Committee on the Status of Minorities in Astronomy (http://csma.aas.org/) .

La Grange Park, IL. - The American Nuclear Society (ANS) honored Dr. Sekazi Mtingwa with the Distinguished Service Award on November 9, 2015 at the ANS Winter Meeting in Washington, D.C. The award recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to the development and understanding of the goals and policies of the Society or who have made outstanding non-technical contributions to the nuclear science and engineering field.

Through his dedicated leadership, Dr. Mtingwa initiated and led a study for the American Physical Society's Panel on Public Affairs (APS POPA) on Nuclear Workforce Readiness. This landmark study detailed the workforce and infrastructure needs that will be required to continue the development of nuclear poser as a viable energy source in the U.S. The POPA report was an important influence leading up to Department of Energy's (DOE) decision to make significant new investments. Since 2009, DOE has allocated 20% of its nuclear fuel cycle R&D budget to university programs, resulting in $343 million going to 97 universities in 38 states, thereby rejuvenating university nuclear science and engineering programs.

Dr. Mtingwa's commitment to nuclear science and engineering is further evidenced by his decades of dedicated teaching, publications, research, and cooperative involvement in the nuclear community.

A high energy accelerator physicists, Mtingwa earned bachelors degree in physics and mathematics from MIT in 1971 and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Princeton University in 1976. He retired as Senior Lecturer from MIT in 2012 and is currently Principal Partner in the consulting company, Triangle Science, Education & Economic Development, LLC in Hillborough, NC.

The ANS Distinguished Service Award is presented each year to one or more individuals who have demonstrated outstanding effort toward the development and understanding of the goals of the Society and/or outstanding non-technical contributions to the field of nuclear science and engineering.

Established in 1954, ANS is a professional organization of engineers and scientists devoted to the peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology. Its more than 11,000 members come from diverse technical backgrounds covering the full range of engineering disciplines as well as the physical and biological sciences within the nuclear field. They are advancing the application of nuclear technologies to improve the lives of the world community through national and international enterprise within government, academia, research laboratories and private industry.